OCU reveals turnout at seized Volodymyr Cathedral on Transfiguration

OCU “service” at the seized Volodymyr Cathedral on the Feast of the Transfiguration. Collage: UOJ

The OCU’s “all-night vigil” on the eve of one of the Twelve Great Feasts was held at the Dormition Cathedral in Volodymyr with virtually no worshippers present.

On the evening of August 5, 2026, OCU clerics held a service in the church seized from the UOC ahead of the Feast of the Transfiguration of the Lord according to the new calendar. Published photographs show that the vast cathedral was almost entirely empty. Judging by the images, only three “priests,” one altar server, and a five-member choir took part in the “service.”

Orthodox churches are usually filled with worshippers on the eve of the Twelve Great Feasts. Yet the empty walls of Volodymyr’s seized shrine demonstrate the lack of local support for Dumenko’s structure.

In October 2025, the state forcibly seized the buildings of the Dormition Cathedral and the diocesan administration from the UOC’s Volodymyr-Volynskyi Eparchy. During the violent takeover, law enforcement officers and radicals beat believers with batons, obstructed filming, and grabbed the cathedral’s deacon by the throat.

In June 2026, under threat of forcible eviction, the cathedral community was also compelled to leave the historic chapel where parishioners had prayed after being expelled from the city’s main church.

As the UOJ previously reported, social media footage revealed who attends OCU services at the Lavra.

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